Written by:	Darkside Momo
Published:	May 27, 2011
Event:	The Young Gods: French Tour 2011
Location:	Le Bikini, Toulouse, France
Galleries:	The Young Gods - Reverso Mecanic - Abberline,Toulouse,France,19/05/2011 by Moocher (13)

There was a frustration that I needed to erase. And well, is there a better way than in this modern temple of sound that is the Bikini?

Sure, after a new and quite mellow album (Everybody Knows), the set wouldn't be as aggressive as the short Hellfest one. And even though the audience was relatively small (around 250 people, something natural for The Young Gods in France - or so I was told), more than half of the audience were metalheads.


Abberline

They sound like electro from clubs, somehow. And there was nothing to see on stage, the guys were immobile, and the lights were almost non-existant. There's good electro, and there's run-of-the-mill, forgettable one - like Abberline. One might argue that metalheads know nothing about that music genre, but anyway we were outside enjoying beers, the nice evening, and chatting.

Curious? Here's their Myspace.




Reverso Mechanic

Reverso Mechanic, opener number two, were received a bit better by the audience, and by metalheads in particular? Yeah, that's it, they had a guitar. That was the only thing that saved them, however, as their music was derivative alternative pop-rock as far as most of us were concerned (references cited in their promo stuff are Radiohead and particularly Foals, second era). A pure alt-rock audience would probably have enjoyed this, but most of the attendees once again finished the set outside with some beers.

Curious? Here's their Myspace.




The Young Gods

Finally! The Young Gods are on stage, and we're in for an hypnotic and trippy ride... As you can see below, the setlist was mostly centered on Everybody Knows. Of course there were some classics too, welcomed as they deserved, but sadly there were no songs out of L'Eau Rouge, to the dismay of many, but especially of one long-time fan who shouted for the title song "L'Eau Rouge" during the whole set. Apart of this, it was fine, the new songs do sound nice live, particularly "Tenter Le Grillage" (the first heavy number of the evening) and the mellow-but-transcendantal "Miles Away".

That said, these new songs evidently lacked a bit in the heaviness department. See, at a Young Gods show, the sound is physical, it surrounds you, mesmerizes you, and then crushes you. And well, this wasn't always the case with these new songs... But it started again as soon as they played something a little heavier (heavier in that case can be electronic, like the excellent and powerful "Supersonic"). Anyway, heaviness or not, their set was hypnotic from start to finish; it's one of the specificities of their sound, and it was even more the case live, with the beautiful lights we had...

Apart from this - and mentioning the weird moves Franz Treichler usually makes - it's quite difficult to describe a Young Gods show. It's trippy and hypnotic (yeah I know, some words are bound to repeat themselves in a review like this), something to be experienced. Don't miss them if they play near you (like, say, at Hellfest this year )!






Conclusion

A nice evening for sure. The openers allowed us all a nice socializing moment around a few beers - some bands are good for that - and The Young Gods delivered. I guess it could have been better, but I had a great time. And I wasn't the only one...

All pics by Moocher

Many thanks to Antoine for the accreditation, and also to Collin and Moocher for the beers!